I am exploring the world of graphic novels with many plans for my own stories. A love of history and of the period of the French Revolution led me to create this little six-page comic about Marie Antoinette. I am developing a new technique in digital ink which permits me to achieve finer detail and work a little faster. Future projects include a graphic novel biography about women in history who challenged patriarchy.
So cool to see my art on funky pants by Lucy & Yak! Based in the UK, Lucy & Yak is a sustainable clothing company using certified organic cotton. The Alexa trouser has an elastic waist and a loose shape for freedom of movement with style. In fact, I may never take them off! Check out their awesome designs at lucyandyak.com.
Illustrators get to do lots of cool stuff! I invite you to view my website for a video on the making of art for these pants.
It is a joy to see public art all over the place: on buildings, billboards, under bridges and on utility boxes. I was fortunate to be chosen to create art for a condominium hoarding in mid-town Toronto. Altree Developments, in collaboration with the STEPS Initiative, commissioned me to design four panels of art that were enlarged to fit a construction site. Scaled to ninety feet wide and duplicated to double the width, the exhibit occupies an entire city block and is the largest assignment of my career! My aim was to reflect a tapestry of natural beauty, both wild and tame, amidst the humming rhythm of an urban community. It was a most enjoyable challenge and a pleasure to contribute to my local neighbourhood.
The Night is Deep and Wide is a board book by poet, Gillian Sze, for Orca Book Publishers. This beautiful bedtime story written in villanelle verse is launching March 16. How’s that for alliteration? It was fun to create black and white linocut illustrations with just a spot of color. Quite a departure for me!
I love making portraits and was so inspired by Kamala Harris, that I had to pick up my lino-cutting tools and make a print of her.
I was thrilled to be invited to join the Toronto Main Street Art Challenge by the Fairbank Village BIA and Steps Initiative. Fifty sidewalk decals are scattered about my neighbourhood inviting residents to return to local shops and businesses. My design incorporates the Fairbank Village BIA logo of a tree, representing growth and optimism during challenging times.
Years ago I picked up a piece of linoleum and started carving, developing an illustration style that is my trademark to this day. I still love the combination of hand-carved lino with digital colour but have an urge to try something different. A passion for portraiture was the impetus for taking on the 30faces30days Challenge by Sktchy. Although I have yet to complete all 30 portraits, it has been fun to mess around with traditional and digital media in search of a new voice. The ipad has become an indispensable tool as it is super convenient to work digitally at the end of the work day while relaxing away from my desk, and so versatile with brushes that convincingly mimic many traditional media. I use Procreate for drawing and Adobe Fresco for painting and love the Fresco live water brushes. This linocut portrait of Jules Verne was exhibited in a group show last year at The Framers Gallery, London, sponsored by The Little Chimp Society and HireAnIllustrator.com.
(pixabay.com)
(pixabay.com)
(pixabay.com)
Never Stop Reading Fairy tales! by Karen DeMers Dowdall
I thought it would be nice to re-post one of my favorite posts about fairy tales. Considering that I am really into fantasy, paranormal, fairytales, and witches, this new blog title suits me to a T…Once Upon a time…. It is far better than just my name (it is way too long). This new blog title really makes me happy. I love fantasy stories that begin with Once Upon a time…Madeleine L’Engles, A Wrinkle in time, however, does not begin Once upon a time…it begins with, “It was a dark and stormy night”…that works too.
I have collected volumes of fairy tale books, everything from all of Hans Christian Anderson to all of the Grimm’s Fairy tales, Scotland Folk Tales, Irish Myths and Folklore, among many other volumes of Fairy tales. Perhaps, one could say, I live in a fairytale world…
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Sue Todd Illustration 